Park joins race, formally

Key lies in whether she can change herself

Park Geun-hye has been called the politician closest to Cheong Wa Dae during the past five years or even longer. On Tuesday, the de facto leader of the ruling Saenuri Party formally embarked on her second attempt to open the gate of the presidential mansion ― with pledges almost completely opposite to those she made in 2007.

Back then, she vowed to cut taxes, ease regulations for businesses and tighten up the rule of law. Now all she has on her mind seems to be “happiness of the people” through realizing a fairer economic system, greater welfare and more jobs.

The shift from economic growth to popular well-being, or from the state to the people, is appropriate, even inevitable, given the political and economic changes gripping the nation, and the world, now and during the period after Park offered her original objectives.

At stake is whether and how Park, whom many voters here still associate with 20th-century Korea, can change herself before changing the nation.

The 60-year-old conservative politician has implanted various good images in the minds of the public, such as strong conviction, adherence to principle, and consistency in speech and action. That she received early schooling in politics from the most effective, if iron-fisted, leader of modern Korea is also a valuable asset, sharpening her political instincts and making her the “ election queen.”

However, like two sides of the same coin, these advantages can lead to disadvantages. Strong conviction and principle-centered leadership, for instance, can always degenerate into uncompromising self-righteousness and inflexible rigidity. The halo effect of her father ― the late general-turned-President Park Chung-hee who ruled Korea for 18 years ― already casts a shadow from which Park should escape as early as possible in order to become a new, 21st-century leader.

Whether she has changed herself ― or at least really decided to do so ― is not very clear and nowhere else is this more visible than in an in-house dispute over the ways of “economic democratization” through changing family-controlled conglomerates. Hawks of chaebol reform within Park’s campaign headquarters call for a near dismantling of the conglomerates, while the doves of the issue appear content with enhancing fair business practices. Few people outside, or even inside, of the Park camp will show their hands, as details are not yet available with the final ballot five months away.

Chaebol restructuring is hardly the only issue in which a lack of specific action plans makes voters’ judgment difficult. Without concrete steps for economic growth other than a vague pledge to develop both manufacturing and services sectors, people are wondering from where she will secure resources for the vast demands for welfare.

In a worst-case scenario, Park may likely find herself sandwiched between liberal critics who demand to see clear-cut steps that show her policy changes and conservative supporters estranged from her “move to the left.”

The most difficult moment for Park will come when her competitors test the daughter of Korea’s most famous dictator over to which extent she can deny her father and the darker aspects of his legacy.

All this explains why her overwhelming approval rating can prove to be deceptive unless she will be able to show she is a totally different person from a few decades, and even a few years, ago with plausible pledges and practicable plans.

Otherwise, just taking a few more steps toward the Blue House may remain her position forever. <The Korea Times>

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